David Kenneth Schenker (born 1968) is an American diplomat who worked in the Department of Defense during the George W. Bush administration, and was nominated on April 9, 2018, to head the
Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
The Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA), also known as the Bureau of Near East Asian Affairs, is an agency of the Department of State within the United States government that deals with U.S. foreign policy and diplomatic relations with the nati ...
in the
State Department
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
.
Early life
Schenker was born in 1968 to mother Linda and father Michael Schenker, both Jewish. He grew up in
Ridgewood, New Jersey
Ridgewood is a village in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 24,958,Ridgewood High School in 1986. Schenker earned a B.A. at the
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...
in 1990, then an M.A. at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
and Certificate, Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA), at the
American University in Cairo
The American University in Cairo (AUC; ar, الجامعة الأمريكية بالقاهرة, Al-Jāmi‘a al-’Amrīkiyya bi-l-Qāhira) is a private research university in Cairo, Egypt. The university offers American-style learning programs ...
.
Schenker has spent most of his career at the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP or TWI, also known simply as The Washington Institute) is a pro-Israel American think tank based in Washington, D.C., focused on the foreign policy of the United States in the Near East.
WINE ...
, starting as an analyst after graduate school.
In 2002, Schenker temporarily left the Washington Institute to be Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel) country director in the Bush Defense Department under Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, government official and businessman who served as Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under president Gerald Ford, and again from 2001 to 2006 under Presi ...
. Schenker returned to the Washington Institute in 2006 and has been there since. At the time of his nomination to the
State Department
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
, Schenker was director of the institute's Program on Arab Politics.
Schenker is a prolific writer, often on Hezbollah in Lebanon and about Syria. He has written two books, ''Dancing with Saddam: The Strategic Tango of Jordanian–Iraqi Relations'' (2003) and ''Palestinian Democracy and Governance: An Appraisal of the Legislative Council'' (2000).